


Be Mine

by cindergal



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: M/M, Romance, Schmoop, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 17:29:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13663851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cindergal/pseuds/cindergal
Summary: Reid is not a hearts and flowers kind of guy.





	Be Mine

**Author's Note:**

> Importing some of my old fic from LJ. Originally posted there 2/14/11. Happy Valentine's Day!

It's not Reid's fault, not really. He didn't even _know_ it was Valentine's Day. Well, okay, he probably should have had an inkling it was coming up soon by all the hearts and cupids floating around the nurses' station, but they'd been up for so long that he kind of didn't see them anymore. He has no idea it's actually THE day until Nurse Gretchen asks him what he's gotten _his_ valentine.

"Do you have something romantic planned, Dr. Oliver? Dinner? Flowers? Candy?"

Reid's heart drops into his stomach. "I...I don't...none of your business!" he growls.

And Nurse Gretchen, who he used to make cry without even trying, just smiles sweetly at him. "Oh, I get it," she says, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "It's a surprise! Well, whatever it is, I bet Luke will love it."

He glares his hardest at her, but she just hands him a chocolate heart wrapped in red foil and saunters off, still smiling. She's not even a little bit scared of him anymore.

Luke has obviously been a terrible influence on him.

And then it hits him: Luke hasn't said a word about Valentine's Day. Luke, his disgustingly romantic sap of a boyfriend, _hasn't said a word about Valentine's Day._ Which means that _Luke_ is probably planning some big surprise _for Reid._ And Reid hasn't even bought him a card. Well, there’s still time. He’s about to run down to the hospital gift shop when he’s paged to the ER. Which turns into an exhausting, touch-and-go nine hour emergency surgery. It’s after midnight when his patient is finally stable enough for him to leave.

By then, the only place open is the gas station mini-mart, and the only thing Valentine’s related they have is one bedraggled box of candy in the shape of a heart which says "Be Mine," across the front, its ribbon falling off and one side dented in.

"Fifty percent off," the guy behind the counter offers helpfully. "Technically, it's not even Valentine’s Day anymore."

Perfect.

Reid lets himself into their apartment as quietly as he can and looks around. They've only been living here for a couple of months, but it feels like home to him in a way no other place he's lived ever has before. And that is completely and utterly because of Luke. He looks down at the pathetic box of chocolates and sighs. There are no bouquets of roses or helium balloons anywhere as far as he can see, but there is light coming from under the door of the bedroom. Reid takes a deep breath and steels himself for the inevitable rose petals and candlelight.

But when he opens the door, all he finds is Luke, sitting up in bed with the reading light on. He sets his book aside and smiles at Reid as he steps into the room.

"I got your text. How'd the surgery go?"

"Long. The girl's alive, though. Won't know more than that for a few days."

Luke nods. "You look exhausted."

"Yeah."

Finally, he notices the heart shaped box in Reid's hands, and his lips quirk up at the corners. "Watcha got there?"

Reid winces. "Nothing?"

Luke laughs out loud. "Reid! You got me a Valentine?"

Reid rubs the back of his neck with his free hand and approaches the bed. "It's really...lame."

He sits down next to Luke on the bed as Luke takes the box out of his hand, his big eyes suspiciously wet. "Reid. I can't believe you did this," he says softly.

"Don't get all weepy on me," Reid says, thumbing the dimple in Luke's chin. "It's just a crummy box of candy from the mini-mart. It's nothing."

"Actually," Luke says, running a hand through Reid's hair, "nothing is what I got you."

"Oh! Well, that's fine, really. I totally forgot..."

"I didn't forget. I just...decided not to make a big deal out of it. On purpose. I figured you weren't a big hearts and flowers kind of guy, and I didn't want to put any pressure on you. So this?" He holds up the box of candy. "This is pretty damn adorable, Dr. Oliver."

"Hey, you take that back!" Luke laughs, and Reid has to lean in and kiss him. He pulls back, holding Luke's face in his hands and just looking at him for a moment. "But see," he says, "you _are_ a big hearts and flowers kind of guy. And I should have done some big hearts and flowers kind of...thing for you. I‘m sorry I forgot."

But Luke is already shaking his head. "No, I don't need that. I don't need you to make a big gesture to show me you love me. I already know that you do."

"But still..."

Luke kisses him this time, which is always an effective way to shut him up. "Reid. I don't think you realize..." He bites his lip and takes a deep breath. "Before...before I never knew where I stood, you know?"

"You mean, with Noah?"

Luke nods. "I was always...afraid. I never knew what I was going to do next to make him mad and push me away, or make him break up with me."

"You never made him do any of those things. That's all on him."

Luke smiles. "See, that's what I mean. With you...with you I _know_ you love me. All the time. I can feel it. We can get mad and argue and yell at each other and I still feel it." He shrugs. "So, you're not romantic in the traditional sense. I don't care. I like your version of romance better."

Reid has no idea what to say to that. He clears his throat, which is feeling a lot more narrow than it should be. "Does that mean I'm off the hook for all of the Valentine's Days of the foreseeable future?"

"How many were you thinking, Dr. Oliver?"

"As many as you can stand, Mr. Snyder."

Luke gets that sweet, bashful look on his face, and Reid thinks, yeah, I could wake up to that for the rest of my life.

“So, do you want some chocolate?” Luke asks, opening the box.

“I think it’s actually..."chocolate-flavored" candy. Technically.”

Luke bites into a piece. “Mmm. Orange cream,” he says with a grimace, holding up the uneaten half for Reid to see.

“That is truly disgusting,” Reid says, and Luke swallows painfully.

“Yeah, kinda.” He reaches past Reid to the nightstand, where a cookie tin has been strategically hidden behind a potted plant. “Or, we could have Grandma Emma’s homemade cookies. She made these just for us.” He pulls a heart shaped sugar cookie out of the tin and hands it to Reid. It’s covered in white icing, with _Luke & Reid_ written across it in red in Emma’s elegant script. Reid finds his stupid throat closing up again at the sight.

“Oh!” Luke says. “In answer to your question.” He points to the box top which says “Be Mine,” then holds up a cookie that says “I’m yours,” and grins.

Reid wonders if there’s one in there that says, “Forever.”


End file.
